LARGO - The owners of The Haus Coffee Shop have declared their mission to create community right in the name.

“Haus” is German for “home,” and a homey, comfortable atmosphere is just what co-owners Rhonda Reed and her son Michael Defelice are trying to create in the décor of the new Largo business and how they treat each customer.

“People come here and they say they feel like they’re in their second home. They don’t feel rushed. They don’t feel like they need to leave, so next person can get the table,” Reed said.

ST. PETERSBURG - Boys & Girls Clubs of The Suncoast hosted its annual Youth of the Year Luncheon and Awards Ceremony on Feb. 16, at the Hilton Carillon in St. Petersburg.

Kassindjaa Montague from the Ridgecrest Boys & Girls Club in Largo was selected as this year’s Youth of the Year recipient from a pool of six other club members in Pinellas County. She will represent Boys & Girls Clubs of The Suncoast in statewide competition.

LARGO - Renewed Faith Full Gospel Church has a new home at 11000 110th Ave., Largo.

RFFGC, founded by Roger and Sandy Sparks, has been in the community since January 2010. The group’s first service took place in the Largo Community Center on West Bay Drive. They later moved to the new community center, holding services in various rooms, including the ballroom where they would volunteer to serve meals at many of the community center functions. Several members also volunteered time several days during the week in the office.

More recently, the RFFGC was at the Plaza Centre on Seminole Boulevard. The group realized it had outgrown the room there about a year agoe.

LARGO - The city of Largo will begin working with developers to bring two new projects to the West Bay Drive downtown area: a three-story market-rate apartment complex on Ridge Road and a mixed-use, five-story complex on West Bay Drive.

“This is a good day for West Bay Drive,” said Economic Development Manager Teresa Brydon during the commission meeting Feb. 17. “We’re very excited.”

Largo commissioners, acting as the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, approved a purchase price for the property at 158 Ridge Road N. and a sales agreement for the 500 block of West Bay Drive. Both properties are currently owned by the city. Staff now will begin negotiating the terms for development with the respective purchasers before both sales are finalized.

LARGO - The city of Largo will be hosting a series of community conversations to help its leaders better understand the type of city that residents want to live in.

The time will be focused on listening to residents. Each 90-minute conversation is a chance to hear the community’s aspirations for Largo and what they believe might shape its future.

This is not a typical town hall meeting or a focus group, but rather a set of small group round table conversations with a city representative facilitator and note taker. The groups will include about 8 to 12 participants each.

LARGO - As of Feb. 9, the channel number on Bright House Networks for the city of Largo’s government access television station, LTV, has changed from 615 to 639.

The channel assignment change does not affect programming. Viewers will still be able to watch Largo City Commission meetings, work sessions, Planning Board and Code Enforcement Board meetings, live and in replay, as well as other Largo presentations and public information programs, such as Largo V-News.

LTV can still be viewed on Verizon channel 45 and WOW! channel 15. Additionally, meetings can also be viewed on-demand at Largo.com and many other videos can be viewed on Largo’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/largotv1.

LARGO - The president and founder of a local charity was booked in the Pinellas County Jail Friday on charges of grand theft over $100,000.

After months of investigating, Largo police arrested Shirley Lawyer, 53, of Largo for theft of donations intended for the Down Syndrome Network of Tampa Bay.

Financial records showed that from January 2010 to December 2014, Lawyer received about $111,000 in goods, services and payments, either directly to her, her family or a business she owned/operated at the time, ASAP Signs and Graphics, police report.

LARGO - More racers than ever already are signed up for the city of Largo’s third annual Play! Dirty Adventure Run Saturday, Feb. 7, 10 a.m.

The 3-mile race begins at Largo Central Park Nature Preserve, treks through the swamp area adjacent to the preserve, includes mud pits behind the Largo Public Library and more than 20 obstacles for participants to tackle. Families, adventure-seekers and groups looking for a team-building experience will find plenty of crawling, climbing and mud along the way.

CLEARWATER - Four industry leaders gave their predictions for 2015 to the Central Pinellas Chamber of Commerce, based in Largo, during the chamber’s annual breakfast, A Tampa Bay Economic Forecast Jan. 21.

Jenn Holloway, community affairs director of Great 38 TV, moderated the breakfast, at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater.

Beginning the predictions was Susannah Costello, Visit Florida’s vice president of Global Brand, speaking on the tourism outlook for the state.

Military Order of the World Wars meetingCLEARWATER – The Clearwater Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars meets for lunch on the first Tuesday of each month at the Belleair Country Club, 1 Country Club Lane.

Social hour starts at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch and a short program.

Military officers who are retired or are on active duty or former officers and their spouses or widows are invited to attend. The MOWW also welcomes new members.

To make reservations or to inquire about becoming a member, call George Smith at 786-5578.

First-time homebuyers workshopST. PETERSBURG – The Community Service Foundation will present a free, two-part first-time homebuyers workshop on Tuesdays, March 3 and 10, 6 to 9 p.m., at the Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N.

The workshop is designed to help first-time homebuyers go through the process of purchasing a home and qualifying for down payment and closing costs assistance.

For more information or to register, visit www.csfhome.org or call 461-0618, ext. 3.

With spring plant sales approaching, the March meeting will be a hands-on workshop on how to prepare bromeliads for such sales.

Experienced members will demonstrate how to remove pups from a mother plant, how to pot plants and make them presentable for sale and how to identify the plants and prepare labels for them, among other things. Members will bring in plants to participate in the workshop. There will be bromeliads for sale.

Family members, students and professionals are invited to attend. Attendees will learn about types of diabetes; managing diabetes with nutrition, exercise and medications; monitoring diabetes; how diabetic medications work; lifestyle; diabetic complications; dealing with emotions and depression; and stress reduction strategies.

The instructor will be Doug Valverde, R.N.
To register, call 321-4141. Walk-ins are welcome.

Good Life GamesLARGO – Residents ages 50 and older are invited to the Good Life Games, featuring badminton and corn toss, Tuesday, March 3, 10 a.m., at Highland Recreation Complex, 400 Highland Ave.
See front desk at Highland for entry form. For more information, call 518-3016.

Lake Seminole Square lunch-and-learn sessionSEMINOLE – Tax time with Vicki, a lunch-and-learn session, will be presented Tuesday, March 3, noon, at Lake Seminole Square, 8333 Seminole Blvd. There is no cost to attend but reservations are required. To RSVP, call 392-3932.

Attendees will learn about the new tax laws in 2015. Vicki A. Sullivan has years of experience as an IRS registered tax preparer. The event will include a complimentary lunch after the presentation.

Largo Woman’s Club meetingLARGO – The Largo Woman’s Club meets first Tuesdays, 11:30 a.m., at the Royal Palms, 300 Lake Ave.
The monthly meetings, held September through May, are $8 and include lunch.

The club’s mission is to promote charitable and civic progress of the city of Largo. Its members invite new residents and any fun and caring people to attend the meetings and business lunches, which include entertainment.

The club was founded to build sidewalks along Bay Drive. Its next project was building the Largo Public Library. The library and the Woman’s Club will be 100 years old in 2015.

For more information about the club, call Ellen at 584-8314 or Pat at 584-0297.